A quick start Saturday by the Arizona baseball team Saturday was negated almost as quickly, as host Washington state scored three in the bottom of the first and five in the fourth en route to an 11-8 victory in an action-packed affair at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman, Washington.
While the win already clinches the series victory for the Cougars (21-12, 7-9 Pac-12), the final matchup of the three-game set is noon Sunday. The game will be broadcast/streamed via Pac-12 Washington.
Arizona manufactured three runs on four first-inning hits before Washington State even had a chance to bat. But the Cougars matched that in the bottom of the first. With the game tied at four apiece heading into the bottom of the fourth, the wheels came off a bit for the Wildcats in that half inning. Washington State put their five-run inning together off of a hit by pitch, a triple by Jacob McKeon, a double by Sam Brown, a wild pitch, a stolen base, a batter reaching on an error, another stolen base, a traditional walk, and finally another walk due to a pitch-clock violation.
By the end of the inning Washington state had only added three more hits to the board, but now led 9-5.
In the end, the teams combined for 28 hits and 19 runs, with 16 runners left on base.Β
Arizona's Mac Bingham, Nik McClaughry, Emilio Corona and Mason White each had two hits apiece. Kiko Romero was 0 for 3 but had two RBIs. White also had two RBIs for Arizona.Β
Brendan Summerhill hit Arizona's only home run of the day in the sixth inning.
McKeon finished 4 for 5 with two RBIs and Brown was 3 for 4 also with two RBIs for the Cougars.
Bradon Zastrow got the start for Arizona and lasted late into that wild fourth inning. His final line included allowing six earned runs (nine total) on 10 hits, while striking out five and giving up one walk. The fourth-inning hit by pitch and wild pitch were both Zastrow's before Dawson Netz relieved him. Netz, who was called for the pitch clock violation, allowed one earned run on three hits with one walk while striking out one in 1 1/3 innings.
WSU's Caeden Kaelber pitched the first four innings for the Cougars, allowing five earned runs on eight hits, while walking one and striking out six.Β
Arizona's second Pac-12 loss in a row comes on the heels of the Wildcats winning three in a row overall, and two straight conference gamesΒ β those coming last weekend at home over Washington. Those Washington wins ended a 10-game conference losing streak for the Wildcats, but Arizona has now lost eight straight Pac-12 road games this season heading into Sunday's series finale.
Baseball was once Americaβs favorite sport and while itβs fallen in popularity in recent years a global crisis might actually make it more exciting moving forward. According to researchers from Dartmouth College, rising global temperatures might just be leading to more epic home runs.
